1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a gas-liquid separator and a hydrogen generating apparatus and a fuel cell generation system having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel cell is an apparatus that converts the chemical energy of fuel (hydrogen, LNG, LPG, methanol, etc.) and air directly into electricity and heat, by means of electrochemical reactions. In contrast to conventional power generation technologies, which employ the processes of burning fuel, generating vapor, driving turbines, and driving power generators, the utilization of fuel cells does not entail a combustion process or include a driving device. As such, the fuel cell is a new technology for generating power that offers high efficiency and few environmental problems.
Methods used in generating hydrogen for the fuel of the fuel cell can be separated into an oxidation reaction of aluminum, a hydrolysis of metal borohydrides, and a metal electrodes reaction. Among these, the method of using metal electrodes can efficiently regulate the rate of hydrogen that is generated. This is a method in which the electrons, obtained when magnesium in the electrode is ionized to Mg2+ ions, are moved through a wire and connected to another metal object, where hydrogen is generated by the dissociation of water. The amount of hydrogen generated can be regulated, as it is related to the distance between the electrodes and the sizes of the electrodes.
Since such hydrogen generating method is performed by using water, however, the water may be included in the generated hydrogen. This not only lowers the efficiency of using the water, thereby dropping the total amount of hydrogen generated, but also rapidly decreases the efficiency of storing the hydrogen in a hydrogen storage.